No Man's River [Hardcover]

Farley Mowat (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 20, 2004

With No Man's River, Farley Mowat has penned his best Arctic tale in years. This book chronicles his life among Metis trappers and native people as they struggle to eke out a living in a brutal environment. In the spring of 1947, putting the death and devastation of WWII behind him, Mowat joined a scientific expedition. In the remote reaches of Manitoba, he witnessed an Eskimo population ravaged by starvation and disease brought about by the white man. In his efforts to provide the natives with some of the assistance that the government failed to provide, Mowat set out on an arduous journey that collided with one of nature's most arresting phenomena—the migration of the Arctic's caribou herds. Mowat was based at Windy Post with a Metis trapper and two Ihalmiut children. A young girl, known as Rita, is painted with special vividness—checking the trap lines with the men, riding atop a sled, smoking a tiny pipe. Farley returns to the North two decades later and discovers the tragic fate that befell her. Combining his exquisite portraits with awe-inspiring passages on the power of nature, No Man's River is another riveting memoir from one of North America's most beloved writers.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Having written more than 35 books (People of the Deer; Never Cry Wolf; etc.), Mowat (b. 1921) is certainly the pre-eminent chronicler of life on the Arctic frontier. Now he details an early Arctic adventure, a journey he took in 1947. After serving in the Canadian infantry in WWII, Mowat sought a peaceful, picturesque life in northern Manitoba, where he found circumstances that were less barbaric, but just as hard. Mowat describes joining a two-man zoological expedition on its way to an isolated camp run by a young trapper, Charles Schweder, and his family. Mowat's relationship with his expedition partner soon deteriorated, and he befriended Schweder. The two set out to help the local Eskimo population, who were struggling with smallpox and famine caused by dwindling caribou herds—all the while under pressure themselves to survive on the barren land: stockpiling meat, conserving ammunition and scrambling from shelter to shelter. The book's heart lies with the conflicts among Schweder, his racist father, his brooding brother and the Eskimo children who came into their home. Mowat's vivid descriptions and careful storytelling bring the northern frontier to life as well as any fictional account, yet the characters are real and the adversities loom large. As a result, the quiet, sad fates that meet many of Mowat's friends—both natives and pioneers—will have a lasting effect on readers.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Considering the deep identification of Canada's most popular living nonfiction writer with the country's arctic regions, Mowat's description of his inaugural odyssey to the area in 1947 will entrance his fans. Upon returning from European combat, Mowat considered becoming a biologist. He joined the grandly titled Keewatin Zoological Expedition, which consisted of an American botanist, with Mowat as assistant. The two did not get on, feuded, in fact, so Mowat abandoned science for adventure, which was furnished by one Charles Schweder, trapper. Schweder was the oldest son of an intermittent agent for the Hudson's Bay Company and a native woman, and figuring Charles out is one strand in Mowat's account of their travels. As the two canoe and portage around the lakes and rivers of Manitoba and the then Northwest Territories, Mowat observes with characteristic sensitivity Charles' place between the white and native worlds. Charles guided Mowat through the human and physical landmarks of the wild landscape, and Mowat's expression of the panorama leaves many an indelible impression of spooky gravesites, foaming cataracts, caribou on the move, and a hawk named Windy. The affinity for animals so appealing in Mowat's writings is fully fledged in this chronicle, which is recommendation enough, yet the buddy motif makes this especially enjoyable. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (August 20, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786714301
• ISBN-13: 978-0786714308
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,468,720 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tough Guy in a Tough Land, September 2, 2004

By 

Donald B. Siano (Westfield, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: No Man's River (Hardcover)

Readers can count this book as one more captivating true tale of Canada's far north, told by its best-read authority. The young Farley Mowat, returning disillusioned from the War in 1947 and thinking to become a biologist, joined with a taxonomist on a collecting "scientific" expedition into the Barren Lands of Northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The headstrong 26 year old was improbably paired up with a disciplined naturalist of the old school, who killed and skinned every animal he could shoot, poison or trap. After a while, Farley, having seen enough killing in the war, became disillusioned with this approach to appreciating the wonders of nature, and deserted his post in favor of exploring the largely uninhabited territory in the company of an Indian half-breed, Charles Schweder. His real desire was to contact the "People of the Deer," the Imhalmiut. These people came to be idealized in Farley's mind as a people "uncontaminated with the murderous aberrations of civilized man."

Mowat gives a clear picture of the hardships encountered by the few inhabitants of this harsh landscape. By the time of the expedition, the Imhalmiut had dwindled to only a few scattered bands, having been nearly wiped out in a succession of epidemics. Farley tells of the well-intended but sporadic and largely ineffectual aid given to them by the Canadian government and its minions, and how Schweder had been traumatized by his experience in a partially successful rescue attempt he had made the year previous. His rescue of a six year old replacement for his child bride, dead of starvation, presents the reader (and Mowat) with a thought- provoking moral dilemma. So much for the myth of the noble savage...

For me, though, the message of the book was how uncaring and ruthless "Mother Nature" really is, and how down and dirty a bare-handed struggle it is. He, Thoreau-like, at one point meticulously gives a complete list of the things they chose to carry on their epic trip down an unmapped river system: guns and ammo, flour, sugar, baking soda, canned food, gasoline and oil for their outboard motor, tarps and tents. Even with all these products of Western technology, their trip was hair-raising and nearly disastrous. And the bugs!

For such a rough subject, this turns out to be an engrossing tale and hard to put down. On the other hand, the map requires a magnifying glass to read and there are no illustrations. I really appreciated, though, the last chapter, in which he follows up on the fate of the characters he encountered, giving the reader some "closure" as it is disgustingly called these days.

I found it a little curious, though, that Mowat felt the need to apologize in a postscript for his use of some now politically incorrect words, such as Indian, half-breed, and Eskimo. This is largely a story of the encounters of people with different cultures, of different races, viewed through eyes that are quite a bit more honest than is usually tolerated by the demagogues and girly-men of our sensitive time.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another outstanding book by Farley Mowat, January 28, 2005

By 

Claire H. - See all my reviews

This review is from: No Man's River (Hardcover)

Farley Mowat has been one of my favorite authors since I was in 6th grade in the early 1960s. I ordered a copy of "Two Against the North" from the Arrow Book Club and read it over and over. The story of two boys from different cultures trying to survive winter in the barrens was riveting to me, a gal firmly stuck in the suburbs. Mowat's descriptions of glacial landforms in that book remained with me and were recalled with every earth science and geology lesson I ever took. (The book can be found in some libraries under the title "Lost in the Barrens"--a great read for a middle schooler curious about the world outside familiar places.) Part of what I loved about No Man's River was that the journeys described were clearly the basis for many aspects of "Lost in the Barrens"--kind of like an echo of an old favorite. Mowat is the consummate story teller--reading his books makes you want to sit around a campfire with him for several hours hearing spin his yarns. One of my favorite quotes comes from him--"Never let the facts get in the way of a good story." No Man's River has jaw-dropping adventure as well as thought provoking commentary on the clash of vastly different cultures. Enjoy!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing, as always, September 16, 2005

By 

Chrissy K. McVay "Writer" (North Carolina) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: No Man's River (Hardcover)

No matter how many books he writes, Farley Mowat continues to amaze his fans. His non-fiction is never dry or uninspiring, though he's a talented fiction writer as well, and this faithful reader of his work is certainly not disappointed. Thank you again, Mr. Mowat for your great writing. It is truly appreciated!
Chrissy K. McVay